Everybody Say Normandy
by CrimsonPromise
Summary: A series of one-shots set throughout the trilogy, exploring the camaraderie of the crew of the Normandy. Mainly a friendship story with some hints of Shepard/Tali.
1. Chapter 1 - Unique Piece of Salvage

**Author's Notes**

**Hello guys! This is my first ever Mass Effect fanfiction. This story will explore the relationships between the crew of the Normandy and how they grow to become the dysfunctional family we know and love. Mainly a friendship story but there are hints of MaleShep/Tali. Rated T for a bit of language.**

_Chapter setting: After the derelict Reaper mission when Shepard and team brought a mysterious geth aboard._

* * *

Chapter 1 – Unique Piece of Salvage

"I think we need to discuss the unique piece of salvage we recovered. For now, we've stored it in EDI's AI core."

Shepard nodded, staring intently at the holographic image of the deactivated geth as Miranda paced up and down the length of the table.

Their recent mission into the derelict Reaper had been a success. They got what they went in to get: a Reaper Identify Friend-or-Foe, allowing them to travel safely after the Collectors through the unmapped Omega-4 Relay. _That was the theory at least_, he thought grimly.

Although what nobody was expecting was an encounter with a geth unit in the dead Reaper, and not just any geth unit either. This one appeared to be operating by itself and much to the squad's surprise, it assisted them by skillfully sniping a couple of husks sneaking up behind before it spoke up, acknowledging Commander Shepard and stalking away along the catwalks. They found the mysterious synthetic again in the main core. It was in the process of shutting it down when a couple of husks snuck up behind and struck it, causing the machine to tip forwards and collapse in the floor.

The squad then proceeded to finish up what it started, shutting down the Reaper core, forcing them to make a quick escape soon after. Shepard quickly instructed Grunt to carry the geth with them as they rushed to the evac point, with Garrus and Kasumi covering them. With a combination of teamwork, skill, luck and Joker's piloting skills, they managed to escape with both the IFF and their strange salvage just before the Reaper corpse gets pulled towards the brown dwarf.

"We need better equipment to fight the Reapers. An intact geth would be invaluable to Cerberus' cyberweapons division," Miranda continued, the Cerberus officer's eyes darting back and forth between the projection and the commander, waiting for his opinion.

"We'll have to disagree on that ma'am," Jacob injected from across the conference table.

Shepard raised an eyebrow. It's not often Jacob disagrees with Miranda, especially when it came to matters regarding Cerberus. He stayed silent, allowing the soldier to continue.

"I saw enough of these things on Eden Prime," Jacob explained, glaring at the geth for a second before turning his gaze to the other two. "Space it."

Eden Prime, where it all began. More then two years ago but Shepard remembers everything. The turian Spectre Nihlus, Jenkins, the Prothean Beacon, the horrible visions that still plague his dreams until today, and his first encounter with the geth. They were a race of synthetics that were created by the quarians centuries ago as a source of manual labour. After turning on their creators three centuries ago, driving them from their planet and forcing them to live as nomads in the stars, the geth retreated back into the Perseus Veil and no one has seen them since, until that faithful day.

"Cerberus has a long-standing bounty for an intact geth," Miranda voice, cool and steady as always, brought Shepard back from his thoughts. "I assure you, the reward is significant."

Though her words sounded like there was for Jacob, Shepard knew she was trying to convince him as well. They could always use more credits. The Hammerhead needed some fixes and upgrades and the squad could always use better armor and weapons. However, credits could always be obtained in other ways, and it's not often they run into intact geth. Shepard eyed a certain component of this unit that made it stood out from all the others he's fought so far.

"I want to know why it has a piece of N7 armor strapped to its chest," he pointed out.

The familiar black plated armor with its red and white logo was covering what appears to be a massive hole in the geth's chest.

"Battle trophy, maybe?" Jacob shrugged. "Would a machine care about that?"

"No. Trophies imply emotions that AIs don't have," Miranda argued. "I doubt it's more than a convenient field repair."

_It makes sense. Use armor to replace armor. _Shepard nodded. But one thing still nagged at his mind.

"I've killed hundred of these things, but I've never had the chance to talk to one."

The previous geth he'd fought had only ever uttered mechanical whirls and clicks, but this one had clearly said "Shepard-Commander" before walking off.

_Had they learnt to speak? To communicate? If so, what can we learn from them? This one not only help us on the Reaper, it knew who I was. Could it be trying to relay a message?_

"This one tried to communicate with us," he noted Jacob's scowl and Miranda's incredulous expression and quickly added. "Hell, it probably saved our lives. Why?"

Jacob grunted something under his breath and Miranda met his eyes with a firm leveled stare.

"Reactivating the geth is a risk. If you do so, it should be for humanity's best interest and not your curiosity," she warned. _Wouldn't be the first time or last time she disapproves of something I say or do._

"I still think our "best interests" involve an airlock," Jacob spoke determinedly, standing up straight and crossing his arms.

Shepard glanced between the two Cerberus operatives. Jacob's expression tells Shepard that he'll gladly toss the machine out himself if Shepard so much as asked. Miranda appears indifferent, but he knows her well enough now to tell that she was eagerly awaiting his permission to ship the geth off to the Illusive Man. _More points for her from the boss._

Looking the geth again, Shepard can't deny that spark of curiosity inside of him. He knows they'll never get an opportunity like this again. A chance to talk with one of the mysterious synthetics. He'll admit that they've been fighting the geth for so long, yet know almost nothing about them. _How to they function? What's their purpose? What motivates them?_

"I'm not deciding one way or the other until I know what we've got here," Shepard decided. "I want to start it up. Interrogate it."

He could see Jacob clenching his jaw, but the soldier was respectful enough not the protest. Miranda on the other hand, balked slightly.

"If we activate it, there is no guarantee we can deactivate it again," she said, leaning forwards on the table.

"Bullets can" Jacob shot back, his knuckles white from gripping the table edge.

Shepard looked at them worriedly. _This could get ugly._

"That's not what I-" Miranda countered.

"Thank you," Shepard raised his voice, cutting off Miranda quickly, "both of you, for your recommendations. I've made my decision."

The two operatives glared at each other and Shepard straightened up, ready to shut down any arguments they may have with him or each other. Fortunately after a few seconds they both relaxed and turned to face him.

"Your call, Shepard. I'll make sure EDI put up some additional firewalls around the geth and alert us to any hacking attempt," Miranda shrugged, quickly typing out a message on his omni-tool.

"I'll make sure we keep an armed guard with it at all times," Jacob's omni-tool flared to life as well. "A lone geth probably won't be much trouble but better safe then sorry right Commander?"

Shepard smiled.

"I guess this discussion's over then. We'll meet back here later to discuss the Reaper IFF after EDI has studied it abit. Meanwhile, I'm going to check up on the rest of squad before I make my acquaintance with the geth."

"Roger, Commander."

"Aye aye, Shepard."

As he stepped out of the conference room, Jacob called out to him

"Speaking of which, Commander," he could tell Jacob was smirking. "You do know Tali's gonna freak right?"

Shepard froze and his face paled.

_Ah crap._

* * *

Tali's fingers danced across the haptic keyboard swiftly. The latest mission with the derelict Reaper involved some heavy stunt flying on Joker's part to pull the ground team off the dead machine and she was worried if it might have affected the engines somehow.

She had wanted to join them but Shepard insisted she stay on board to monitor the drive core since he had no idea if being in such close proximity to a Reaper, even a dead one, would have any affect on it. He had chosen to bring Kasumi along in case they needed a tech, and Grunt was there as the muscle. Garrus had volunteered to go along as a scout and a back-up tech if needed. Tali knows Grunt and Garrus would never let anything happen to Shepard and Kasumi's skill was on par with hers, so she reluctantly agreed to stay onboard the Normandy.

Her eyes scanned the engine dialogistic readings scrolling past her screen, trying to spot anything out of the ordinary. Her fellow engineers, Kenneth "Ken" Donnelly and Gabriella "Gabby" Daniels, were currently occupying the two other workstations to her right. Both of them were also hard at work, balancing out the energy grid and rerouting power throughout the ship to keep the engines stable.

Working on a state-of-the-art warship like the Normandy was a dream come true for any ship engineer, doubly so for a quarian like her. All her life she's been fixing second-hand vessels and castaways so to work on a brand new ship with all the latest technology was an absolute blessing. _I have Shepard to thank for this._

It was more than two years ago that he first rescued her from the would-be assassins in the alley, before welcoming her aboard the first Normandy. And despite her coming along mainly to be on his ground team in his fight with the geth, he allowed her to work in the engine room of the Normandy too, after seeing how fascinated she was with it. When Engineer Adams praised her expertise in front of the commander as that time, she couldn't help but blush. Thankfully, it was hidden behind her mask.

Now two years later and after Shepard's death and return, she found herself back on the Normandy again, as it's chief engineer this time. _Granted it is a Cerberus vessel. But you can't deny they know how to build ships._

When she first came aboard the new Normandy, she was skeptical and cautious. There was no love lost between the Migrant Fleet and Cerberus after all. And if she was honest, she wasn't sure it really was really Shepard back from the dead, and not some elaborate Cerberus trick. Sure he knew about the geth data he gave her and he willingly handed the traumatized pilgrim, Veetor to her, she still had her doubts.

It was only after she watched him help his ground team resolve their personal issues and then finally being there for her in her own time of need was she sure that the man she was serving was definitely Commander Shepard.

_It was fun watching you shout._ She had teased him back on the Rayya. He spoke for her in front of the Migrant Fleet Admirals, defending her honor and praising her for everything she's done for the galaxy and for him. She was thankful once again for her mask because without it everyone would have seen her jaw drop and her face blushing furiously. In the end, her father's reputation was saved and the Admirals dropped the charges against her.

He asked on the way back to the Normandy if she was going to get her name changed back and her answer was simple. _No. My home is on the Normandy, with Joker, Chakwas, even that bosh'tet Garrus and especially with you._

She turned her gazed away from him, her face heating up again as she wished she didn't say that last part out loud. His eyes turned upwards as he smile from behind his own helmet. He patted her shoulder and replied good-naturedly, "_Tali'Zorah vas Normandy. It has a nice ring to it."_

Yes. The Normandy was where she belonged, Cerberus or not, it was her home.

Her musings were cut short when a cloaked human suddenly shimmered into view right next to her.

"Hello Kasumi. Can I help you?" Tali didn't know whether to be amused or worried that the thief's sudden appearances no longer fazes her.

Besides Shepard and Garrus, Kasumi could be one of the only other person on this ship Tali would willingly call a friend. The Japanese girl was cheery and quirky and it was definitely nice to have another woman her age to talk to. Miranda was too cold and proper for a decent conversation. _Not to mention she can be such a bitch. _And the last time Tali went down to Jack's dwelling unannounced the crazy biotic nearly made a quarian shaped hole in the bulkhead. _ And her language is as colorful as her tattoos._

Tali turned to regard the smirking thief, when she noticed the woman covered in a thin layer of dust. The quarian quirk an eyebrow, unseen behind the mask.

"Kasumi, why have you been crawling through the ducts?"

Tali knows the maintenance ducts of the Normandy well. She lost count of the number of time she has to wiggle her way through them to scan certain areas of the ship or to replace worn-out parts. She also knows that they can be used to access any part of the ship in an emergency.

"Hi Tali," Kasumi chirped, dusting herself off . "Just came back from the mission."

"Oh? How was it? Did you guys find the IFF?"

"Look, Shep's coming."

Tali tilted her head, confused. The commander makes his rounds everyday and he always makes an effort to talk to every member of his crew about anything. _What's so important about this time?_

"So?" she asked, encouraging her friend to elaborate.

"Well, you see," Kasumi looked around, trying to find the right way to phrase it. "Let's just say that whatever Shepard is going to tell you, please don't get mad with him."

Now Tali was slightly worried. _Did something happen? Was someone injured?_

"What are you-"

There was the sound of the door of the corridor before the engine room opening, and Kasumi quickly shimmered out of view, leaving Tali staring confused at empty space where her friend was. Out of the corner of her vision she spot the engine room door open and in walked none other than the commander himself.

Shepard walked slowly towards her and Tali noted that he seemed guarded somehow.

"Oh hey, Tali," he greeted her with a slightly forced smile. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Shepard. What can I do for you?" she greeted. "Is… everything alright?"

"On yeah, of course," the commander replied far too quickly. "Any problems with the engines? After the last mission?"

Him changing the subject did not go unnoticed but Tali decided to humour him. _Maybe get him to open up and then I'll find out what's wrong._

"I'm running diagnostics. At the moment there doesn't seem to be anything major. A couple of power spikes but all mild and Ken's got them under control," she explained, peeking to her side to watch her captain carefully.

"Oh good to see if everything is already," Shepard said cheerfully, but Tali was not fooled.

"But I assume you're not here to talk about engines, Shepard," she turned to face him, leaning back against her console and crossing her arms. "Is something the matter Shepard? You look like you have something on your mind."

Kasumi's words spun around in her head. What could Shepard possibly tell her that will get her mad?

The commander rubbed his neck nervously. He turned to glance over at the other two engineers who are too busy with their own work to pay any attention to them, and back to the quarian staring at him.

Tali jumped when Shepard reached out to grab her hand and began pulling her over to the drive core. She felt herself blushing and tightening her grip involuntarily.

He released her hand as they stood in front of the humming drive core and Tali tried not to let her disappointment show. The sound of the drive core will muffle their voices from the engine room, giving the two of them a little privacy.

"Shepard?" Tali called, getting his attention. "What's wrong?"

"No. Nothing's wrong," Shepard looked away from her, suddenly finding the large glowing ball fascinated. "The mission was fine."

Tali's eyes widened.

"You bosh'tet!" she hissed. "You got hurt didn't you?"

Shepard stepped back at her outburst, but Tali grabbed his arm to pull him back and she gave him a quick once over. _Stupid bosh'tet always putting himself in danger. Doesn't he understand what will happen if we lose him? I can't lose him again._

"Hurt?" Shepard cocked his head, before understanding. "No, no Tali I'm fine. We're fine. Nobody's hurt"

The quarian released him and crossed her arms again, still glaring at her captain.

"Then what is it, Shepard?" she growled.

The human rubbed his neck again sheepishly. Tali relaxed a bit and waited for his explanation. After a few seconds, he sighed loudly and closed his eyes.

"Alright," Shepard finally said. "So we found the Reaper IFF, EDI's analyzing it right now. Everyone's more or less ok. But…"

Tali was leaning against the console beside the core but now she stood at rapt attention as she listened to her captain.

"We found… something else," Shepard continued, raising a hand to stop her when it looked like she wanted to interrupt. "It's, well, how do I say this? I think you can call it a unique piece of salvage."

Tali blinked a few times, her gaze no leaving his face. It was starting to come together and she thinks she understood now.

"You found Reaper tech on board, and I'm assuming you want me to strip it down and analyze it," she concluded.

She could understand why the commander will be nervous in asking her to examine Reaper tech. On the previous Normandy, they often brought old pods and satellites back onboard to salvage and analyze. She and Adams sometimes worked through the night cutting them up. Sometimes they would find useful parts they can sell for extra credits and other times they'll find interesting technology they'll send back to the Alliance for further study. But studying Reaper Tech was something she's never done before. It was unpredictable and dangerous.

Shepard looked straight at her, furrowing his brows in confusion.

"Um, Tali, it's not really that," he said.

"Then what is it, Shepard?" she said exasperatedly. "You're acting weird and it's making me very nervous."

The commander met her gaze through her mask for a few second before reaching out to her.

"Maybe it's better if I show you," he muttered, taking her hand in his and leading her out of the engine room.

Tali heart beat wildly and she couldn't help but smile and tightened her three-fingered grip in his five-fingered hand slightly and they entered the elevator and headed up to the crew deck.

_Hmm,I guess whatever he wants to show me can't be that bad._

* * *

"What the hell is this?!"

Shepard buried his face in his hand and sighed. In retrospect, he was expecting this reaction, he was just glad that the fuming quarian was unarmed at the moment.

"A geth? Really Shepard a geth?!" Tali snarled, pacing up and down the medbay. "You found a geth, an active geth, inside a Reaper. And instead of leaving it there, or tossing it out the airlock, you decide to bring it onboard the Normandy?! Of all the places you left it in the AI core? And you're planning to start it right up?!"

"EDI has set up some firewalls and so far she hasn't alerted us on any hacking attempts," Shepard reasoned. He cast a quick glance out the window into the mess hall. Doctor Chakwas was having dinner at the moment with some of the crew at the moment, leaving him and Tali alone in the medbay. Hwishes the doctor was here, at least she'll know what to say to calm his engineer down. _Or at least tell her to stop wearing a path on the floor._

"EDI's an AI too," Tali shot back, her pacing more erratic. "For all we know they could be working together. Maybe they're disabling the life-support right now!"

Shepard couldn't help but frown. Tali has made no effort to hide what she thinks about the Normandy AI. In truth, Shepard wasn't too fond of EDI at first. Overtime however, he just learnt to live with it. Sure he didn't like being spied on at all times, but EDI hasn't been anything be helpful and polite so far.

"Tali you know that isn't really fair to EDI," he shook his head. "She hasn't done anything wrong to us yet. Besides, Cerberus installed blocks in her. I'm sure even if she meant to cause us harm she won't be able to." _Hopefully…_

The quarian spun on her heel and marched right up to him, jabbing a finger at his chest.

"You don't understand," she hissed. "You've seen what the geth can do. It could be within the Normandy now, it could have unshackled EDI already!"

"Tali," Shepard grabbed her hands, giving them a soft squeeze to calm her down.

"My blocks are currently still in place, Miss Zorah," EDI monotone voice chimed up suddenly, her holographic representation popping up in the corner. "And the geth has made no attempt to communicate with my servers nor have any of the firewalls been breached."

Shepard watched as Tali glared at the AI.

"How do we know you're not lying?" the quarian asked, almost snarling.

"I do not see the point in that," EDI replied, her voice calm as always. "I know some of the crew still regard me with suspicion. I see no purpose is encouraging that line of though."

Shepard watched as the AI blinked out. Tali slumped her shoulders and dropped her hands.

"I can't let it happen again, Shepard," the quarian muttered softly. "It was geth that took the Alarei, Shepard. They took that ship and killed everyone on board. It's thanks to them that I was nearly branded a traitor to my people. It's thanks to the geth that I lost my father. I can't let it happen again, Shepard. I can't."

The quarian let out a soft sob and Shepard couldn't help but pull her into his arms, giving her a gentle squeeze. He suddenly remembered Rael'Zorah and his experiments with active geth, and how he intentionally reactivated geth units that ended up massacring everyone on the ship.

"I'm sorry, Tali," he whispered gently. "I'm so sorry. I should have thought about… I'm sorry."

"You know what the geth can do, Shepard," Tali sobbed, her head buried in his chest.

"Tali. I wasn't thinking. I let my damn curiosity get the better of me," Shepard stroked her back, soothing her. "If it makes you feel better I'll space it right now. Or send it of the Cerberus. If we're lucky it might blow up one of their bases or something.

Tali laughed softly and slowly pulled away from him.

"No, Shepard," she shook her head, stepping back.

The petite quarian glanced at the door to the AI core for awhile before sighing softly.

"It's your decision," her glowing eyes met his, "Go ahead and start it up."

Shepard blinked.

"Wait, I thought you don't want me to-"

"You said you've set up some safeguards right?" the quarian held up her hands to silence him.

"Yeah. But-" Shepard began but Tali cut him off again.

"I trust you, Shepard," she said sincerely. "I may not like it, but I trust you. No matter what happens, I'm sure you'll do the right thing."

Shepard watched as she quietly made her way out the lab.

"Tali, wait!" he called out just as the door opened. The quarian turned and look at him. "Why don't you come with me? Maybe you'd like to try speaking to it?"

She froze for a moment and despite glass visor obscuring her face, Shepard was sure she was pondering the idea.

"I…I can't, Shepard," the quarian lowered her head sadly. "It's too soon… Not yet."

"Oh," Shepard replied dumbly. "Alright then"

They stood there, waiting for someone to make the first move. Finally, Tali let out another tired sigh.

"Well, I'm going back to engineering," she said. "Just call me if you need anything. I'll bring my shotgun if needed."

Shepard chuckled quietly as the engineer left the medbay. _Well, guess it's time._

He took a deep breath and headed towards the AI core. The doors slid opened automatically, revealing the dark room with an ominous red glow permeating throughout. At the back lay the geth, silent and unmoving. Steeling himself, Shepard dismissed the guard watching over the machine and raised his omni-tool. Peering at the geth another time, Shepard clenched his jaw and nodded to himself as he began typing out a series of codes EDI sent to him. A second later, a mechanical finger twitched and a bright cyclopean eye swiveled to face him.

_This better be worth it._

* * *

**Postscript:**

**I'm slightly disappointed that they didn't have a scene of Tali freaking out over Shepard bringing a geth back to the Normandy. Sure she shoots Legion if you brought him to her recruitment mission and later confronts him about her omni-tool, but I wished they as least made a reference about how she felt about having a geth on board.**


	2. Chapter 2 - Girl Talk

**Author's Notes**

**Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed the last chapter! It's been years since I last wrote anything so I'm a little rusty. This chapter focuses mainly on Miranda and Jack and it has some harsh language and innuendo because it's, well, Jack. Anyway, hope you guys enjoy!**

_Chapter setting: While Shepard heads off to help Thane find his son, everyone takes the time to enjoy some shore leave._

* * *

Chapter 2 – Girl Talk

"I don't need a fucking babysitter, Cheerleader. Get lost!"

Miranda sighed for what felt like the hundredth time in the last hour. The Normandy was currently docked at Citadel for a chance to refuel and restock supplies.

The main reason they were here, however, was because Thane had informed the commander about some important business he had to settle regarding family. Shepard immediately ordered Joker to plot a course to the Citadel. Miranda couldn't really protest about his decision since he too went out of his way to help her with her sister, Oriana.

Once they've docked, the commander had announced a few days shore leave for the crew, much to their delight, although a couple of them, including Joker, had opted to remain on the Normandy. As for the ground team, majority were off doing their own things. Miranda made sure that they kept either her or Shepard informed of their locations in case of any emergencies.

Garrus and Tali had left for the marketplace, looking to stock up on some replacement parts for the Kodiak shuttle and the Hammerhead tank as well as pick up a few weapon mods. Kasumi vanished the moment she stepped out of the airlock and Miranda can only hope she doesn't get a call from C-Sec any time soon. Jacob, to her surprise, chose to stay on the Normandy. His reasoning was that he needed to clean their weapons since their last mission on Tuchanka had caused a sand build-up in some parts. Samara was also back on the ship, saying that she had no business on the Citadel and that her "presence will only invite unwanted attention from the asari denizens". Shepard joked that them arriving in a vessel flying Cerberus colors and with the huge Cerberus logo painted on the hull had already garnered all the attention they could ask for. Mordin had rushed off to various medical centers to stock up on some chemicals, despite Miranda's reasoning that he could just request them through her. But the salarian had politely refused, saying that he'd rather procure them himself and she didn't press the issue anymore.

As for Grunt and Zaaed, the grizzled old mercenary promptly dragged the young krogan off to a bar to "celebrate him becoming a man". Jack wanted to tag along but Zaaed told her it was guys-only event and they left without her. The convict promptly let out a storm of curses and stalked off on her own.

Despite her time on the Normandy, Jack was still an unstable element, and neither Miranda nor Shepard trusted her enough yet to go off on her own. And with Shepard off assisting Thane, Miranda was the only one left to go after her. Which brought them so where they are currently.

Jack gulped down her fifth glass of alcohol, letting out a belch that'll make a krogan name their first-born after, before ordering yet another round.

Miranda frowned apprehensively at the glowing green liquid the turian bartender slid in front of the convict. Shaking her head disgustingly, she turned around to take in her surroundings. They were at the Dark Star, one of the more fancy bars on Zakera Ward. It's not the place she'd associate Jack with but tattooed woman had snapped, "Since Cerberus is footing the bill I'll drink wherever I damn well choose too!"

The Normandy's XO closed her eyes and counted to ten before opening them again, watching Jack toss back a shot of something blue.

"Seriously Jack, slow down," Miranda shook her head. "I'm not carrying you back no matter what."

"Fuck you, Cheerleader," Jack spat, slamming the glass back down and shooting her a venomous look. "I didn't ask you along!"

"The commander ordered me to keep an eye on you," Miranda shot back, crossing her arms and raising her chin.

"I don't need a fucking babysitter, Cheerleader. Get lost!"

Miranda knows there's no point antagonizing Jack any further. The psychotic biotic had been in a horrid mood recently. She had informed Shepard about her desire to return to the Teltin facility and while the commander had agreed to help her, he had yet to set a course for Pragia. Firstly, they had to make an emergency detour to the ass end of nowhere to find the Quarian Migrant Fleet and contest some charges against Zorah, then a trip to Tuchanka before Grunt punched a hole in hull and to rescue Mordin's assistant. And now he's decided to stop at the Citadel for Thane. To say Jack was pissed was an understatement.

"No matter what you say Jack I have my orders," Miranda tried to reason. "Shepard's worried about you, you know?"

"Oh really?" Jack sneered. "Well, tell him to go fuck himself. Or is he too busy trying to get inside Princess Buckethead's suit?"

She tossed back another shot and Miranda resisted the urge to rub that spot between her eyes.

"Jack," she tried to keep her voice steady. "Please show some respect for you fellow crewmates."

The tattooed woman merely grinned menacingly back at her.

"What's the matter, Cerberus?" she leaned closer to her. "Jealous?"

Miranda tried not to gape at the accusation.

"Whay I be jealous of?" she snapped.

"Come one, Cheerleader," Jack rolled her eyes. "Aren't you supposed to be some perfect bitch? That every guy in the world lusts for and desires? And yet, our resident boyscout has eyes only for the suitrat. That has to sting doesn't it?"

Miranda couldn't help but winch slightly. There's no doubt that Commander Shepard is an extremely attractive man. But she can safely say that what she felt for him was platonic instead of romantic. Still, the fact that he may have passed over her, the "perfect woman", for a quarian hurts a bit.

"Geez," Jack snorted, bringing Miranda back from her thoughts. "You need to get laid."

Miranda could only sit silently, dumbfounded at the convict's crude bluntness.

"You know I wouldn't mind banging the boyscout," Jack said, almost as though it's an after thought. "The nice ones are always the wildest in the sack."

"Oh for the love of.." Miranda's palm met her face as she sank into the barstool.

"You what I'll do," the convict smiled predatorily. "I'll take him right there below the engine room. Make enough noise for the quarian to hear. It'll be fun watching her blow a gasket."

"Enough, Jack!" Miranda jumped up and slammed a fist into the bar, denting the metal surface slightly. "I won't have you talk about the commander in this manner!"

People all around were starting to stare at them. Miranda huffed and sat back down, eying the drink shelves in front of her before shaking her head.

"Fine fine," Jack shrugged, chugging down a new drink. "Don't need to get your panties twisted. If you're even wearing any…"

They sat quietly for a few minutes, Miranda breathing slowly to calm herself down and Jack pounding back more drinks.

"So," Jack spoke up suddenly. "What's your type then?"

"Jack, please just stop," Miranda sighed, rubbing her temples.

"Relax, Cheerleader," the convict drawled. "I'm just trying to have a heart-to-heart good old fashioned girl talk here."

"Well, I'm not interested in 'girl talk'," the XO snapped. "Just finished off your drink so we can leave."

"So Jacob then?" Jack said, ignoring her. "You like some hot chocolate?"

Miranda almost fell off her barstool.

"Ok, seriously?"

"Hmmm, Zaaed? Bet that old geezer's got experience under his belt. Heh, 'under his belt'."

The Cerberus officer buried her face in her hands.

"How about Vakarian? He's all goody goody two-shoes but what did I say about nice guys. And turians with the fangs and claws, definitely a different experience. Trust me."

"Jack, please," Miranda groaned, her head hitting the bar.

"Oh I know!" Jack exclaimed, swallowing the drink and turning to give the XO a wicked smirk. "Isn't Grunt a 'man' now? Why don't you break him in?"

"Excuse me, give me the strongest thing you have behind the bar. Right now! Thank you!"

* * *

"Ugh…"

She opened her eyes and was immediately assaulted by a massive headache. Groaning, she threw her arms over her eyes.

"Well, it's good to see you're finally awake," a voice piped up with a slight hint of laughter.

Carefully, Miranda lifted her arm to peek, allowing her eyes to adjust to lighting. She was back in her room/office on the Normandy, the holo clock on the nightstand showed that it was early morning. Slowly, she raised her head to see who the voice belonged it.

Unsurprisingly, the commander was comfortably lounging on her sofa, his legs kicked up on the coffee table and a smug grin plastered on his face. Normally, Miranda would have asked him to put his boots down, but her head was pounding too much for her to even care.

"Shepard," she mumbled, covering her eyes again.

"Miranda," Shepard nodded, still smirking.

"What… what happened last night?" she asked, pinching her nose bridge.

"I should be asking you that," the commander said, leaning forwards and placing the datapad he was reading on the table. "I vaguely recalled asking you to look after Jack. The next thing I know she was carrying you back on board. Care to fill in the gaps?"

Miranda blinked before inclining her head slightly to look at Shepard.

"Jack… brought me back?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, she did mentioned she was about to leave you all by yourself. That is until you paid for her drinks out of your own pocket."

Miranda shot up suddenly, instantly regretting it as a sharp pain shot straight through her head.

"I did what?!"

She fired up her omnitool, and with a few taps, she pulled up her account. Sure enough, the latest deduction was time-stamped the night before and credited to "Dark Star". The Cerberus officer groaned again, before collapsing back onto the bed.

"Miranda?"

"It wasn't my fault, Shepard!" she moaned. "I didn't know how it happened! I was just watching over her then she said a few things and I just lost it."

The commander didn't say anything but his expression hasn't changed yet.

"What, Shepard?!" the woman snapped. She was not in the mood for his mind games. "Fine, I promise it happen again, I'll be more careful. Now wiped that stupid smile off your face."

To her surprise, the commander chuckled loudly. Miranda narrowed her eyes.

"Relax, Lawson," he said. "I'm not going to give you a lecture or anything."

"Why?"

"Because," he added. "It's nice to see you relax and let loose every once in a while."

Miranda lay back down, deep in thought. Ever since Shepard's awakening, she can't remember when was the last time she truly relaxed. She had to run the Normandy from reporting back to the Illusive Man every once in while to fulfilling requisition orders from the crew. As well as finding out information about sister.

Then there were the ground missions she had to go to: Omega, Haestrom, Horizon, Illium and a few others. She did have a drink every once in a while like a glass of wine before bed, but she never really got a moment's rest or a chance to properly unwind.

"I really needed that didn't I?" she laughed quietly.

"As long as it's not a daily occurrence I'm sure it won't hurt," the commander shrugged.

"It'll be a while before I'll do something like that again, commander," Miranda rubbed her temples. "I'm guessing I'll need to go and thank Jack then?"

"If you want to," Shepard rubbed the back of his neck. "But I wouldn't do that right away, considering how she might be worst off than you."

Miranda nodded and silence fell over the both of them. It was broken by a quiet beep and Shepard raised his omnitool to check the message. He read it quickly but thoroughly before frowning.

"Garrus wants to meet me right away at the docks, he says it's urgent," Shepard explained, standing up then turning to his XO.

"You should go," Miranda waved him away. "I'll get some work done here."

As she tried to get up, Shepard grabbed her shoulders and gently pushed her back down.

"Get some rest, Miss Lawson," he smiled. "I'm sure you can afford to take a day off. Everyone is still on shore leave anyway."

Miranda considered it before nodded.

"That sounds like a great idea at the moment, Shepard," she said, failing to stifle a yawn.

"I'll have EDI lock the doors and make sure no one bothers you for the day."

"I appreciate it, commander. Thank you."

Shepard made his way to the doors but before stepping out, he turned back to her.

"By the way, you know you talk in your sleep right? Something about hot chocolate?"

Miranda literally leapt out of bed and grabbed her clock, almost tossing it at the commander as he sprinted from the room, laughing loudly. When the doors slammed shut again, she fell back down on the bed face first and cursed into her pillows.

"Damn you, Jack!"

* * *

**Postscript:**

**Yes I know Jack doesn't get hangovers, but they don't know that ;) Also, while I ship Shepard/Tali, I do happen to like Miranda as a character. I've got a couple more ideas for new chapters in my head right now and I'll start writing them soon!**


	3. Chapter 3 - Teambuilding

**Author's Note**

**A very big thank you to everyone who has read my story so far! Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I was busy with life and other stuff, like Halloween. Happy Halloween by the way! Now, on to the next chapter!**

_Chapter setting: Shepard has one last order of business to conclude before the team head off into the Omega-4 Relay._

* * *

Chapter 3 – Teambuilding

If there was one thing you could call Commander Shepard, it would be a tactical genius. No matter the situation, be it leading a small multi-species group against an army of geth, or killing a thresher maw on foot with conventional weapons, the human Spectre will always find a way to get it done. The man could think up of ideas on the fly, sometimes unconventional, sometimes downright insane, but it'll always get the job done.

However, as he let his eyes rest on the sight before him, the Spectre wonders if this was his worst idea ever.

At the moment, he and his squad were ready to take on the Collectors and kick them in the daddy bags, as Engineer Donnelly would say. But first, he had to make sure their ship, the Normandy, was in tip-top shape before even attempting to confront their mysterious and dangerous foe. He had the Normandy parked in a dry-dock at the Citadel, so they could fit new armor, new shields and a new gun, the Thannix Cannon, which was guaranteed to rip through any defenses the Collectors might have. Garrus has been positively giddy when he described the specifications.

Of course the downside to this was that they weren't going anywhere for a couple of days at least. Most of the team took this time to do some final shopping for gear upgrades and to prepare for eventuality that they don't return form the Omega-4 Relay.

Shepard himself was wandering around alone in the Wards, checking out equipment and restocking medi-gel, when he stumbled upon the advertisement. It was large and flashy, with big bold designs and words that conveyed a strong and clear message.

**NEWLY OPEN ON THE CITADEL!**

**PAINTBALL!**

**PIT YOUR SKILLS AGAINST YOUR FAMILY AND FRIENDS!**

While he knows his team was made up of some of the greatest talents in the galaxy, from the best engineer to the best doctor, they had one glaring weakness. They had no cohesion. On the battlefield, it had always been him giving out orders and though he knows no one would ever second guess his command, he shuddered to think what would happen if he was out of commission in the middle of a fight. He knows his XO, Miranda, wouldn't hesitate to take the lead, but he also knows that apart from maybe Jacob, no one would listen to her. Garrus would make a better squad leader, the turian had that air of authority about him and he was on better terms with the squad then the Cerberus officer. But Shepard knows that despite resolving his issue with Sidonis, the turian was still haunted by what happened to his squad in Omega.

The Spectre read through the advert again and made his decision.

* * *

When he first summoned his squad to the facility, all of them had been curious and somewhat eager, but now it seem that most of them wished they had just ignored his call.

The salarian referee had taking one look at the mismatched squad and immediately turned into a quivering stuttering mess. Shepard had volunteered to take over the briefing before the he had a panic attack. He won't be participating however, since he wanted to observe everyone. First, he had arranged for them to be divided into pairs, and each pair will have to compete with the others to complete an objective.

He noticed certain squadmates moving closer to one another, like Miranda and Jacob and Tali and Kasumi, so he decided that he'd be the one choosing the teams. And right now he was questioning his decision.

Jack was busy giving Miranda the stink eye, as though willing to send Shockwave to the XO just by looking. The Cerberus officer appeared to be ignoring the convict, but Shepard could feel the irritation ebbing off her.

Next pair was Thane and Jacob. The drell stood straight and calm, his hands behind his back and his face betraying no emotion. Jacob had his arms crossed over his chest and though the soldier said nothing, his eyes kept darting to the assassin next to him, his jaw clenched.

Samara and Zaaed stood next to them. Like Thane, the Justicar was calm and had her usual aura of serenity around her. As for Zaaed, the yellowed armored mercenary was leaning against a wall and he appeared almost bored out his mind.

Down the row were Garrus and Kasumi. The turian's posture was slightly stiff and upright, a sign of his military background, and he was paying full attention to the commander. In contrast, the thief was bouncy and fidgety, as though she couldn't wait for the match to start. Her eyes, shadowed by her hood, had her usual glimmer of mischief and excitement.

Next up was Tali and Legion. The geth was standing completely still as only a synthetic could. If it weren't for the singular glowing optic, Shepard would have thought Legion had powered down. The quarian engineer was shooting a glare that rivals Jack's at the geth and Shepard could tell that she had shut down her voice modulator and she was currently grumbling to herself.

Finally there was Grunt and Mordin. The krogan had crossed his arms and appeared to be sulking as he eyed his salarian partner with distaste. Mordin, remained blissfully unaware that he was being looked at like a bug and the doctor continued humming cheerfully.

Shepard cleared his throat and everyone turned towards him, some of them still glaring.

"Alright team, the objective is simple. Each team will start off at separate ends of the arena. In the middle of the arena is a single flag. The objective of this match is to grab the flag and run back to your starting area. Now if you get shot, you have to return to your area and press the button before you can continue. If you get shot whilst holding the flag, drop it immediately and return to the start. The round will end once a team has manage to successfully capture the flag."

He paused and waiting until everyone nodded to confirm that they were paying attention before he continued.

"Before you enter, you will have to choose your gun. There are snipers, shotguns, pistols, assault rifles and submachine guns to pick from. Just select whatever you're comfortable with but only take one. Also, this will be a guns-only match, so no biotics-"

"Bullshit!" Jack yelled.

"No tech," Shepard ignored her and carried on. "And no cloaking." He eyed Kasumi and the thief did an exaggerated pout.

"Your paintballs will be color-coded to your teams so we'll know who shot who. Miranda and Jack will be Team White, Thane and Jacob will be Team Green, Team Red is Samara and Zaaed, Garrus and Kasumi is Blue, Team Purple will be Tali and Legion and lastly Team Yellow will be Grunt and Mordin. Before we start, any questions?"

Jack's hand shot up immediately.

"No Jack, no biotics," Shepard replied simply. Jack opened her mouth to protest and he quickly added. "And no shooting your own teammates."

The convict lowered her hand and snarled. But apart from that, everyone merely shrugged. Smiling, Shepard reached out and pulled open the weapon rack.

In the past, paintball was played using, well, paintballs. Round pellets filled with harmless dyes that stung and bruised whoever got hit. Of course, the sport has now evolved. While the premise remained the same, the paint-fill ammo was now replaced by colored holo-balls. And to mimic the sting of being shot at, they will emit a faint electric shock at whoever got hit as well as make them glow, making it easier for referees to sport them. But the main improvement to the game was the guns. With the creation of holo-balls, different gun types could be created; looking and feeling exactly like their real world counterparts. And since they no longer needed a way to feed ammo, they were lighter and less bulky.

Shepard watched as his squad selected their weapons. Unsurprisingly, Jack, Grunt and Tali all reached for the shotguns. Legion, Thane and Garrus picked the sniper, the rifle looking exactly like the Viper model. Jacob, Zaaed and Samara pulled out the assault rifles. Miranda and Kasumi selected the submachine guns and Mordin, surprisingly, grabbed a pistol.

"More accurate. Lighter to carry. Can move fast. Obvious choice," the salarian explained cheerfully when Shepard raised his eyebrow.

"Suit yourself, Doc," he shrugged before turning back to his squad. "Alright, let's begin."

He nodded to the referee who was hiding in a corner all this while. The salarian gulped before opened a pair of large doors and the squad entered the arena.

Shepard followed the referee up to a circular catwalk above the arena as the teams headed towards their respective start zones. From up here, he could observe everyone easily. The arena was set to a destroyed urban theme. The ground was rough and sandy, chunks of debris was shattered all around, ruined building foundations dotted the area and old storage boxes lay haphazardly around. Already, his inner tactician was creating a map of the best cover and quickest route to the center. He can only hope that his squad members are able to pick them out as well without him to guide them.

"Commander, everyone is in position. Just let me know when you're ready to begin," the salarian referee said, his hand hovering over a large button. Shepard nodded and turned on his comm so he can speak with his squad.

"Alright, gang. Remember, the first team to grab the flag and return to their base wins. After this message, I want everyone to disconnect their comm from everyone except their partner. I'll still be listening in though so play nice. Also, winning team gets drinks on me later and the one who gets shot most has to buy everyone a round at Dark Star."

A half dozen groans answered him and Shepard laughed quietly.

"We're starting. Good luck!" he turned to look at the salarian and the referee pushed the button. A loud horn blared throughout the arena and everyone was off. Shepard moved around to watch, listening intently to his comm.

"Go to hell, Massani!"

"Kasumi, move up!"

"You shoot like a bunch of little girls!"

"I am krogan!"

He saw Miranda rise up from cover before stumbling and she was enveloped with a yellow glow. But she continued onwards regardless.

"Miranda," he spoke into his comm. "You're hit. Back to start."

As the XO made a dash back to the beginning, she noticed that Jack was still hiding behind her base bunker, peeking out only to take potshots.

"Jack, you can't stay there, move up," she ordered.

"Fuck you, Cheerleader!" the convict spat at her.

"Move, Jack," Shepard said into the comm firmly.

The bald woman snapped a curse and sprinted out to hide behind a nearby pillar, but not before throwing the commander an obscene hand gesture. Shepard looked around for the other teams. He suddenly spotted Grunt charging ahead, completely ignoring any hiding spots. The krogan was immediately peppered with multiple shots, causing him to flash with different colors. To his credit, he turned around and ran back to his start, but then he started charging again and getting hit in the process.

"No good, no good," Mordin scolded, the skinny scientist spoke into his comm as he darted from cover to cover, his tactic of carrying light and moving fast working wonderfully. "Take cover. Stop charging. Pointless."

"I'm Krogan," Grunt growled. "I do not hide. I face the battle head on."

The massive alien let out a roar, barreling through the arena, and then multiple bullets struck him. Shepard could only look on, unsure whether to laugh or facepalm. He scanned the area, trying to find the other teams. To his surprise, both Tali's and Garrus' teams was very close to the flag. There was one problem though. The area around the flag was completely open, and though the four of them were poking out of cover to take shots, no one seemed to want to make the dash for it.

"What are you waiting for, Legion?" Tali hissed at the geth, diving behind a debris pile. "Go get it!"

"Negative, Creator Tali'Zorah," the geth replied in his typical stoic manner. "It would be more optimal if we provide cover fire."

"You're faster then me!" the quarian exclaimed, popping out to shoot a certain charging krogan before going back into cover. "I'll distract them. You go!"

"Your shotgun is inefficient for distraction," Legion stated bluntly, oblivious to the glare Tali shot him. "We carry a sniper, which is more suited."

"Bosh'tet!" the engineer growled. "Ok fine. Cover me!"

She hesitated for a bit, before making a run for it. Unfortunately, before she could get halfway, a blue pellet struck her. As she ran back to the start, Shepard could pick out a furious string of untranslated khelish.

Chuckling, he turned his attention to the Blue team. Garrus looked hundred-percent focused, his rifle aimed steadily directly at where Legion was hiding. Kasumi on the other hand, appeared to be having the time of her life.

"Okay, one down. Go ahead and grab it," the turian spoke, motioning for the thief to run forwards.

"Garrus! I can't believe you!" Kasumi said, trying to sound angry but her large grin said otherwise. "Asking a lady to risk herself in the crossfire. Some gentleman you are."

"Stop arguing with me," Garrus snapped, taking his eye off the scope. "You're smaller and faster!"

The thief's grin only widened.

"Awww, Garrus. You're such a sweet-talker," she teased.

"Spirits help me, woman!" the turian groaned, his hand meeting his face.

Shepard realized that Thane and Jacob had remained suspiciously silent all this time. His eyes roamed over the battlefield before he spotted them on the other side. Both men were making slow but steady progress, and they seemed to be faring better the other teams. Better in the sense that they weren't even communicating with each other.

They appeared to be doing their own things, their movements individualistic and uncoordinated. Also, they seemed to be avoiding one another.

"Thane, Jacob," Shepard sighed exasperatedly. "What are you doing?"

"I'm moving in close, Shepard," came Thane's raspy voice. "No hits yet so far."

"Slow and steady, Commander," Jacob answered. "Got hit once when I came out of cover, but I think I got Grunt."

"Yeah, you and everyone else," the commander replied dryly. "Come on, guys. Work together. I'm not supposed to be telling you this but Thane, give Jacob some cover fire and Jacob, make sure Thane knows which direction you're moving to. Talk to each other!"

There was silence for a second before both men replied quietly. At once, though still somewhat reluctantly, Jacob began planning his route with Thane. The drell answered calmly and politely and the two of them continued on, this time more in sync with one another.

While he was distracted by them, Shepard failed to notice Zaaed and Samara moving right up to the edge of the middle clearing. The mercenary was taking shots at where Garrus and Tali, the quarian having returned, were hiding, while taunting them like a mixture of nasty drill sergeant and back alley punk.

"Stick your ugly mug up, Vakarian! A sight like you would be hard to miss! What's the matter, Goto? Not so smug without your cloaking eh?"

"Be quiet, you bosh'tet!" Tali growled, her fingers twitched as she fought the urge to send her drone out.

"Come on out, Zorah! Show us that pretty face of yours!"

"He needs to die," Tali said flatly to Legion.

"Creator Tali'Zorah, we detect an eighty seven point one-five percent increase in a desire to viciously injure the yellow human," the geth pointed out factually.

"Zaaed, it would be unwise to further torment your teammates," Samara said calmly to the left.

"Listen sweetcakes," the old mercenary drawled. "They can kick my arse afterwards for all I care. Right now I'm just having too much fun to give a damn!"

He watched as Grunt ran towards the center for what seemed like the hundredth time before shooting the krogan in the leg.

"Goddamn stupid lizard," he grumbled. "You would think fighting under Shepard might have taught the boy some strategy."

"He is young, he has much to learn," the asari simply stated, all the while calm and collected.

Zaaed surveyed the area around the flag, and he came up with a sudden idea.

"Alright, darling," he said to the Justicar. "I have an idea. On my mark, you run for the flag. I'll be right over there making as much noise as possible to draw their attention.

Samara stared at him. If she was surprised by the mercenary's sudden selflessness, she didn't show it.

"Alright. Just give me the signal."

Zaaed nodded and he slowly crept away from the Justicar, making sure the opposing teams don't spot him. Once in position he gave the thumbs up and the asari sprinted from cover towards the flag. However, no distraction came from him and everyone focused fire on her, hitting the Justicar multiple times.

While everyone returned to cover, satisfied that they managed to thwart the Red team's attempt, Zaaed suddenly vaulted over his cover and made a run for it. Before anyone could even react, he picked up the flag and booked it out if there.

"Goddammit Zaaed!"

"Alert! Alert! We have been compromised!"

Both team Blue and Purple jumped over their own cover and started their pursuit.

"Everyone, stop that mercenary!" Kasumi yelled.

The other teams stopped what they were doing and proceeded to give chase. From above, Shepard and the referee leaned forwards eagerly.

Zaaed laughed wildly, his legs carrying him as fast as he can and he waved the flag over his head. He ducked and weaved expertly; shots that were fired missing him. Soon, he could see his starting bunker, his Justicar partner standing next to it, firing her gun at his pursuers. He grinned triumphantly. He was almost there, then suddenly…

"I AM KROGAN!"

Zaaed found himself thrown off his feet as an eight hundred pound organic tank plowed straight into him. He landed painfully on the ground, barely missing a pile of rubble. With the flag still in hand, he tried to stand but found himself lifted off his feet.

Shepard watched as Grunt pulled Zaaed up and proceeded to put him in a headlock. Worriedly, he ran down to the arena, the referee following closely.

"No physical contact! No physical contact!" the salarian cried hysterically.

The rest of the squad gathered round to watch man and krogan wrestle. Their guns were trained to the pair but no one was shooting.

"Hold him still!"

"Someone shoot him!"

"I can't! I'll hit Grunt!"

The old mercenary continued tossing about, attempting to throw the giant krogan off balance.

"Gotcha, human!"

"Get off me you big lizard!"

"Grunt!" Garrus called loudly, causing the krogan to turn his head for a split second to acknowledge him. "On three, turn him towards us. Everyone, shoot Zaaed."

Everyone replied affirmatively and the turian started counting down.

"One, two, three! Ok, now!"

Grunt twisted his body to point Zaaed to the squad, but the mercenary suddenly shifted his weight, causing the krogan to stumble and get pelted a dozen holo-balls. The krogan cried out in pain and shock, releasing the human.

Zaaed stumbled for a moment before realizing that the flag was still in his grasp. He ran quickly towards his start bunker.

"You know what? Fuck this!" Jack yelled and the biotic's hands started glowing.

Without warning, Zaaed found himself lifted off his feet and flailing around weightlessly in mid-air. Everyone gathered around him, their guns all trained on him and everyone with a smug smirk on their faces.

"Alright, let him have it!" Miranda called out, smirking.

At once, the squad let loose completely, firing non-stop at the mercenary that had been taunting them the whole round. After a few seconds, the biotic glow stop and so did the firing. Zaaed dropped to the ground and lay there, groaning painfully.

Shepard jogged up to the team as Garrus reached down to grab the fallen flag.

"Well, I guess we can call it a draw," the turian said wryly, eying his fallen teammate.

The commander simply shook his head, smiling.

"Well done everyone!" he said. Everyone exchanged smiles and nods with one another even Thane and Jacob. "We may not have a winner, but we achieved what we set out to do anyway. We're not just any team any more. We're the team that's going to stop the Collectors, and we're going to it together! Everyone get cleaned up and meet at the Dark Star. Drinks are on me! You all deserve it!"

Everyone cheered happily as the followed the nervous referee out. Shepard watched as Garrus clapped Jacob on the shoulder and the two of them started retelling some of the more memorable moments. Tali and Kasumi were whispering to each other, giggling every once in a while. Legion followed closely behind them and surprisingly, the quarian made no protest. Miranda and Mordin were talking among themselves, discussing some strategies they have seen and used. And Thane and Samara walked side by side, both on them talking quietly.

Still grinning, Shepard approached Zaaed, who was still lying on the ground.

"So," the commander smirked, crossing his arms. "I know I said I'll buy tonight's drinks but I also mentioned that the one who got shot the most will have to buy everyone a round."

"That'll be the krogan," the mercenary groaned, still not getting up.

"Well, he did get shot a lot," Shepard rubbed his chin. "But as I recall, everyone emptied their entire clip of paintballs on a certain someone."

Zaaed merely scowled at Shepard's grinning face above him before sighing.

"Fine. Just go get their damn orders. Goddamn psychopaths."

* * *

**Postscript:**

**ME2 is my favorite of the trilogy, but another disappointment from the game is the lack of squad interaction. Sure there are short conversations like Garrus and Tali reminiscing about elevators and the confrontation scenes, but I wished there were a bit more.**

**Also, paintball! I remembered the first time I played, I got shot in the throat. The wound was shallow thankfully, but it took a week for the wound to heal and a year for the scar to fade. Meanwhile, I had to content with people joking about my "love-bite" -_- The second time I played I got hit in the face. I was wearing the mask but I still got a mouthful of paint. Let me tell you, it tasted horrible! No amount of mouth rinsing or teeth brushing could get it out for days!**

**Lastly, I'm thinking about doing something Shepard/Tali next, nothing too romantic though. Either that or maybe something set in ME1 or 3 instead. Let me know what you guys want!**


End file.
